What would be the Ideal Lineup for Toonami's Revival?

Toonami's back. For a 90's guy like me, it's frankly a little hard to believe. I watched the block almost religiously from 1998 (Beast Wars) Through 2005 (The end of Gundam Seed, Yu Yu Hakusho) . Since it left us, there has been a television hole that has needed filling (...get your head out of the gutter). And now, that hole has been filled. (seriously) Or has it?

At this point, we have no idea what Toonami is going to look like. Tom is clearly going to be back (he had new narration on April 1 thanks to Steven Blum) and the trademark editing style of the promos and intros seemed to be back as well (most of the intros used on April 1 were specific to the episode played and completely unlike the ones these shows debuted with). But which shows will be returning?

Below I made a list of what a dream Toonami would look like, not really factoring in things like licencing deals or feasibility. It's also quite a bit longer than what I expect Toonami's new block will end up being (5+ hours!!!). That said, I think the shows below would not only be good for the fans and new viewers, but for the network as well. Even if none of these show up (It could end up being a reskin of their current saturday nights, which means lots of Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Ghost in the Shell) I'll still be happy. I used to say that Toonami was timeless. Now I can say that Toonami IS timeless.

In an ideal world, what would be on Toonami?

Toonami's Revival

What would Toonami have been without Dragonball? First introduced a year into Toonami's campaign, it immediately became a staple and catapulted every show that surrounded it into immense popularity. Between the original series, Z, and GT, Dragonball at times consisted of half the daily programming.

It was a shame that Code Geass didn't come out a decade earlier. The show would have been perfect fodder for Toonami, right up next to shows like Gundam, Evangelion, and Outlaw Star. The mechs, characters, and political intrigue would have been a hit. It's time to rectify this mistake.

What would the return of Toonami be without Gundam? It wouldn't be Toonami, that's for sure. This particular marriage benefited both sides in a big way, as Gundam benefited from the increased exposure and became a meteoric hit, in turn boosting Toonami's profile. But Gundam hasn't been on TV since Seed season 1 ended some 7 years ago. And frankly, that's the reason I haven't gotten around to watching 00. It'd be fun to see them put UC on the network as well, but 00 would be good enough.

Almost custom built for Toonami's long-defunct "MIDNIGHT RUN", Panty and Stocking perfectly combines the Tartatovsky (creator of Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Dexter's Lab, among others) vibe with the older, less mature (see what I did there?) humor Adult Swim used to be known for (before it decided to cater exclusively to stoners).

Gurren Lagann is another series that, while presented on american television in another form, would have benefited from being on Toonami in particular. SciFi Channel didn't have the anime bodifides to get people to tune in. Tom and Toonami do.

Between Outlaw Star, Big O, Blue Submarine, Samurai Jack, and various Gundam series, Toonami had a good tradition of brooding series that weren't about constant combat, and it was loved for that. The Fate series definitely falls in that category.

A personal favorite of mine, Outlaw Star was relatively obscure in its native Japan. Panned by the anime universe, it was a small miracle that Toonami took a chance on it in 2001. It became by far the biggest surprise hit to come out of Tom's spaceship, and had a huge presence in Toonami's "music videos". The final episode was shown in Toonami's "April Fools Day" appearance, lending hope that the show might return at least shortly, to beckon Toonami into a new era.

While it was one of the most popular series on Toonami (especially in its later years) it ended up being moved to Adult Swim before the full 112 episode run was complete. With the recent blu-ray release, I'm sure there are many that would love to see the final arc, to find out how it all ended.

Toonami has always had a cuter series to pair with all of it's serious brooding and shonen action shows (Hamtaro, Powerpuff, Cardcaptors) and MLPFIM is without a doubt a huge hit among those who would be interested in the return of the block. This isn't a show that I watch, but I couldn't be more confident that it would be a hit.

Goofy, likable characters, a largely episodic format, and top-notch action (along with a hint of honest-to-goodness thematic meaning) make Tiger & Bunny the most recent fit to a Toonami lineup. Few modern anime would really feel at home on a new Toonami. Tiger & Bunny does.

The rebooted movies. I'm not sure if they could be cut up Futurama style or if they'd be occasional specials like Endless Waltz and the Batman TAS movies back in the day, but this would be another great way to draw in fans of the original Toonami block.

Panty & Stocking This series fits in well with [as] and US animation for "adults" so I'd kick the block off with this since it will feel familiar to strangers, and it's a good show. The point: anime is palpable to what you guys already watch so stay tuned.

Tiger an Bunny It's pretty light fun. The point: anime can be like a dumb fun action movie

Fate/Zero good action series The point: anime can be hella violent and super serious compared to US cartoons.

Shiki a good horror series The point: anime can be crazy gory and tackles genres most of US cartoons wouldn't even think to do.

I included "the point" because [as] already shows anime and if they're going to rebrand the block, I think that the first 4 shows should all serve a purpose that gets people warm to the idea of anime in general and continuing further into the block.

That's my first four. After that, it's 2am and it's a no man's land where I doubt too many people are watching. They could probably get away with showing the same old 5 shows they've been showing since I started watching in 2001 and stopped watching in 2005. Personally, I think a 1 or 2 hour Midnight Run style block that airs every weekday is more interesting to create a schedule for. Saturday is the highlight so my proposed lineup are things that I think are palpable to the masses. On a midnight run I'd go crazy and run the frickin gamut of anime out there with:

Personally I would make Toonami all weekend long, Saturday Night-Sunday Morning and Sunday Night-Monday Morning, The 12-6am on Saturday block would be newer shows that we see now for example Bleach, Durarara!, etc. adding a new show every now and again between seasons. Then 12-6am on Sunday would be retro which would include Outlaw Star, Gundam Wing, Cowboy Bebop, etc. also changing the line up every now and again

Well, for me, Toonami was best in the 1990's so I decided to pick a line-up of only 1990's shows (I fudged around the edges, though). I only had two requirements. One, to the best of my knowledge, the show must not have aired on Toonami in the past. New Toonami, new set of shows. That means no DBZ, Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing. Second, obviously there had to be an English dub currently available. I should note that I didn't take whether or not the content is appropriate for basic cable broadcast, but I think most stuff should pass with some editing. If not, who cares, Comedy Central sometimes airs uncensored stand-up after 1 AM Eastern.

I'm going to take a few things into consideration before creating my list.

1) Midnight to 6am timeslot on Saturdays

2) Blue laws in effect allowing me to go a bit further than what might normally be permissible on Cartoon Network proper

3) The shows are going to be repeated twice each night. 12 midnight to 3am, then re-run from 3am to 6am. Six shows, half hour format, and with some editting, there's going to be room for one show that's a micro-episodic show.

4) I'm not going to worry about licensing and I'm not going to be afraid to put out a sub.

Naruto's owned by Disney, Bleach has already been aired, and One Piece didn't have the greatest reception in the United States. (A less edited version of One Piece, by the way, is waiting in the wings if the Shonen shows prove to be popular to be paired with Fairy Tail and expand the Shonen imprint on the new Toonami, but I'm not leading with it out of the gate.) It's relatively recent, fun, sprawling, and fills in a niche that Toonami's served for a while and has been known to deliver on.

With high school romance, military ass-kicking, and quirky characters, Full Metal Panic! works as a transition to darker shows as we hit the section that's only going to be shown from 1am to 2am and 4am to 5am, where I'm going to put my shows which push the envelope the most. I have three seasons to work with (FMP, FMP? FUMOFFU, and FMP The Second Raid) to try to figure out, if successful, which direction the audience is telling me to go. If there's a spike during FUMOFFU, more comedy is needed, if FMP and Second Raid are higher, more military action can follow in 2013. My initial impression is to have Gurren Lagann on deck to follow this up.

If Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine had a love child and abandoned her as a child, she might grow up to be Revy. Revy might be one of the strongest, most relentless female characters in the history of anime and could be reminiscent to people of Ghost in the Shell's Major Kusanagi. It's an homage to much loved shows, but something new and as far as I know, hasn't been on American TV. Jormungand is on deck here, and I can spend a weekend letting everything rest if this is successful by playing Roberta's Blood Trail for a weekend.

Obviously the similarities to the Powerpuff Girls is the itch I'm scratching here, but with an insane perverted twist. I can always pull in Powerpuff Girls X as well in this slot to let it rest if successful, but I'm going to push some boundries here, but I'd expect some editting so I'm going to throw some microburst stuff after this.

I've made it clear, that I *hate* the very concept of Hetalia, but I'm not blind to the fact that it's wildly popular and that it can draw. If I can draw numbers, I can further experiment, so here comes the cute boys. I'm probably going to have enough edits for Black Lagoon and Panty and Stocking, where I'm going to have a few minutes to kill, and Hetalia's short time frame lets me get back on schedule.

One of people's most fond memories of Toonami was that it introduced Sailor Moon to the United States. I'm going to reverse course and play the show that turned the Magical Girl thing on it's head. I'm looking to pair this eventually with Mawaru Penguindrum, which personally I found more subversive than Madoka, which should give Madoka some time to rest after it's first run. With my initial line up I want to lead with my best foot forward to the public, so Madoka's the right call in the public's consciousness.

Here's going to be the most questionable one, but I want a show that leaves you with the same feeling you had watching FLCL. I want people to walk away from the block wondering what the hell they just saw, so I'm going to punctuate this by having a Zombie, raised by a Necromancer, being chopped in half with a sentient chainsaw being wielded by a more traditional Magical Girl. I want a bit of FLCL's absurdity here, and no show recently has channeled that kind of zany Looney Tunes inspired madness better. Ben-To's waiting in the wings to follow this because I want the absurd and entertaining to be somewhere here.

Thanks for the update. I'll be tooning (sic) in for sure. Like they say, if the segment gets good ratings, there's other shows they are looking at (Panty and Stocking, Fairy Tale were two of the ones mentioned).